UPDATE 1-Ticketmaster subpoenaed over reselling

Fri Apr 3, 2009 11:19pm BST
 
Email | Print | | Single Page
[-] Text [+]

* Information requests from feds, New Jersey

* Springsteen ticket sales mentioned in requests

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - Ticketmaster (TKTM.O) has been subpoenaed or received other requests for information from the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the New Jersey Attorney General's office, the company said in an email obtained by an industry blog.

The law enforcement agencies were interested in Ticketmaster's relationship with its reseller TicketsNow, in particular controversial sales of tickets to Bruce Springsteen shows in New Jersey on May 21 and 23, said the email displayed on TicketNews.com.

"We have received a number of subpoenas and demands for sworn information about TicketsNow and its broker clients," Ticketmaster said in the email.

"These include formal requests for information and/or subpoenas from, among others, the United States Department of Justice, the New Jersey Attorney General's office, the Federal Trade Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau," the email said.

Ticketmaster confirmed the email was authentic but had no other comment.

Ticketmaster, which is seeking to merge with the world's largest concert promoting company Live Nation (LYV.N), was besieged by complaints earlier this year when fans of Bruce Springsteen who signed on to Ticketmaster to buy concert tickets were told that they had sold out within minutes. They were instead directed to the reseller TicketsNow which had considerably more expensive tickets.

Ticketmaster has said the problem was caused by a computer glitch.  Continued...

 

Most Popular General News on Reuters UK

  • Articles
  • Videos